Petrolatum - Impurities in Petroleum Jelly or
commonly known as Vaseline, under suspicion
as a carcinogen in Breast Cancer - Petrolatum Banned in products in the EU -
Long term damage to health becoming evident - side effects from impurities in
the manufacturing process implicated in causing cancer!

Breast cancer and impurities. EWG's assessment of product
ingredient labels and data on cancer-causing chemicals identified three
common impurities in personal care products that are linked to mammary
tumors in animal studies — ethylene oxide, PAHs, and 1,3-butadiene.

The ingredients for which these impurities are of concern are used
in one of every four personal care products on the market.

Among girls born today, one in eight is expected to get breast cancer
and one in 30 is expected to die from it (NCI 1996, 1997, 2000). A review
by scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory shows that as
many as one of every five chemical carcinogens causes mammary tumors in
laboratory studies, indicating that the breast is more sensitive to
carcinogens than almost any other tissue in the body (Gold et al. 1991). EWG's identification of three impurities linked to breast cancer does not
represent a full accounting of possible mammary carcinogens in personal
care products. Instead, it is a partial accounting based on the National
Toxicology Program's assessment of mammary carcinogens (NTP 2000) and
other sources in the peer-reviewed literature. Further study would likely
identify additional ingredients in personal care products that raise
concerns with respect to breast cancer.

PAHs. PAHs, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are common
contaminants in petrolatum, also called petroleum jelly and sold under
well-known brand names like Vaseline. Petrolatum is found in one of every
14 products on the market (7.1 percent of the products assessed by EWG),
including 15 percent of all lipstick and 40 percent of al baby lotions and
oils. FDA restricts petrolatum in food to no more than 10 parts per
million, and requires petrolatum used in food packaging or drugs to meet
impurity restrictions for PAHs (21 CFR 178, 21 CFR 172.880).

But the
agency allows any amount of petrolatum of any purity in personal care
products, many of which are applied directly to the lips and swallowed.

Manufacturers would find no legal impediments to using the same
unregulated petrolatum in personal care products as can be used in shoe
polish.

Among the studies linking the petrolatum impurity PAHs to breast cancer
is a Columbia University study in which researchers found that the breast
tissue of women with breast cancer was 2.6 times more likely to contain
elevated levels of PAHs bound to DNA (called DNA adducts) than the breast
tissue of women without breast cancer (Rundle et al. 2000). The National
Toxicology Programs finds that some PAHs are reasonable anticipated to be
human carcinogens, and the State of California lists a number of PAHs as
carcinogens in its Proposition 65 program (NTP 2002, OEHHA 2004).

Petrolatum is listed as a probable human carcinogen in the European
Union's Dangerous Substances Directive (UNECE 2004), and its use in
cosmetics will be banned by September 2004 with the following caveat:

“The classification as a carcinogen need not apply if the full
refining history is known and it can be shown that the substance from
which it is produced is not a carcinogen.”

Chemical industry sources have interpreted this
clause to mean that petrolatum will continue to be allowed in cosmetics in
the EU if it is refined and meets PAH purity standards for food set by FDA
(Faust and Casserly 2003). Even this purity standard does not set direct
limits on PAH content, but instead relies on a light absorption test as an
indirect indicator of contamination.

In the U.S. no requirement for refinement applies for petrolatum in
personal care products. Some manufacturers likely choose refined
petrolatum low in PAHs, but perhaps some do not.

Product labels do not
uniformly show the “USP” certification on the petrolatum listing in EWG's
ingredient label database, and in any event, the certification criteria
for a USP listing are not public.

Some product labels include the term
“skin protectant” in parentheses after the petrolatum listing, an
indication that the petrolatum has been refined and meets FDA requirements
for drug applications.

But in most cases a consumer buying a product
containing petrolatum has no way to know if the ingredient is low in
carcinogenic PAHs or not.

Health-Report Comment:

Well folks, it never
stops does it?

How many of you would ever have thought, a ubiquitous substance such
as good ol' Petroleum Jelly or Vaseline as so many of us have come to call
it over the last 50 years, is now a suspected and probable
carcinogen because of the way it is manufactured?. Contaminants from petrolatum are being found in most breast
cancer tissues which have been studied in recent times.

You know, I keep beating the same drum about these so called safe
chemicals! Just because we have become used to using synthetic chemicals
on the skin, it doesn't mean to say they have been beneficial in the long
run to our health. FAR FROM IT! In fact, some of these toxic chemicals,
may well have contributed to the cancer, a friend or loved one of yours,
contracted and died from, in recent times.

Yes we all know people, loved ones and friends who have been cut
down by this cancer scourge.

Every single one of us in Westernized society, knows someone who has
died of cancer in the last 12 months. It's a frightening and awful
reality, that the rate we contract cancer, is approaching 1 in every 2
people and will probably exceed this rate within twenty years!

It's only YOU who can do something about it by educating people you
know to the dangers and by voting NO to chemicals simply by reading the
labels! If the label has words on it you can't pronounce, then put it back
on the shelf and don't run the risk of doing long term damage to your own
health. You need to start explaining to people you know about reading
labels and keeping the toxic chemicals out of their system.

You can actually be paid to do this if you join the
Organic Movement and promote safe non toxic products like we do here
at the Health-Report website.

CERTIFIED ORGANIC is the only
guarantee you have of being chemical free. If you support the organic
industry then you will not only be healthier and happier but you are also
helping to save the planet from an impending disaster!